Taking What is Ours
by Unsugar
Summary: Set after 'His Duty as A Human'. Ikki comes to take back what he believes is theirs.


**Title:** Taking What is Ours

**Fandom:** Animanga – Saint Seiya

**Summary:** He comes to take back what he believes is theirs. [Set after 'His Duty as A Human']

**Warning:** AU. Siblings fight. Angst. And various others.

**Disclaimer:** Not. Mine. Happy now?

* * *

Hurried footsteps echoed across the massive, dark hallway. A young boy rushed as fast as he could, his black cloak fluttering behind him. A concerned expression etched on his usually cheerful face.

The familiar, warm cosmo that he sensed earlier was not something that was supposed to appear around this part of the world.

Upon reaching the main entryway of his palace, the young lord gasped at what he found. Various men from his army were being helped by their more able comrades, blood pouring from many parts of their body.

But he did not stop to help, only pausing for a few seconds at the ones who he encountered along his way across the entryway. Their words only confirmed his worry further.

"_A Saint has arrived__ at the gate. Minos-sama and Aiacos-sama are fighting him."_

On his way to the gate, a heavy, silent shadow moved to his side. The only signs of acknowledgement it received were a quick glance and a curt nod.

But Rhadamanthys did not mind it at all. His Lord has other matters to worry about at the moment.

Especially now, when it was his own brother who was invading his own castle.

The moment they arrived at their destination, the young lord gasped and his Judge growled out in anger.

"Nii-san!"

* * *

Ikki looked up from giving the finishing blow on Aiacos when he heard the voice he has missed for so long. But what he saw only hurt him even more than necessary.

Shun stood there, horror apparent on his face. Beside him, the last of the three Underworld's Judges was already in a fighting stance, ready to kill for his Master. The only thing that was stopping him was a delicate, black-clad arm holding him back in a gentle manner.

_The black cloak, the dark clothes, the star-shaped pendant, the dark red hair, the pale face_; everything he saw on his younger brother only dampened the Phoenix's determination to bring back his wayward brother to their side.

"Shun--"

"Phoenix Ikki, what are you doing?" the cold, harsh voice brought shivers down his spine, and sounded so unfamiliar to the older boy's keen ears.

The way the former Saint phrased his question only confirmed Ikki of one thing: the young man standing in front of him is no longer Shun, his brother and the Andromeda Saint, but _Lord Shun_, the human representative for Hades, the God of the Underworld.

"I'm here to take back my brother," was the only thing he could say, not sure which of the two personas he was talking to.

"And for that, you have to appear in front of me in such a… _destructiv_e manner?"

By now, Ikki could actually understand why Minos and Aiacos quickly kneeled down (Aiacos, he noticed, with a bit of difficulty) the moment Shun's dark eyes hardened when he asked the first question. He felt like grovelling on the ground the few times he was brave enough to look into his brother's eyes.

'_Since when is Shun able to do this to people?'_ "…"

"Do you even realise that your actions of invading my castle and grievously injuring one of my Judges, as well as other Spectres, have breached the agreement that Athena and I have settled upon?"

"I failed to notice that just wanting to see my brother will make me breach the agreement."

"If it is to see me that make you do all these kinds of destruction, I fear of what you will really do for your _real_ intention."

Ah, damn. He should have known his brother was too observant to be outsmarted by the likes of him. "Then, you should understand why I'm doing this."

But the dark light that he saw in Shun's eyes disagree. "No, I don't. I don't understand why you are wasting your time on something that will never happen."

"What do you mean by tha--"

"I've talked to you about this, brother. I am not returning to Athena. Or to you."

* * *

Silence went for a long while the moment the words came out from Shun's mouth. The three Judges kept to themselves; Minos and Aiacos remained on their kneeling spots, eyes obediently strained on the ground, and Rhadamanthys rigidly stood by his young Lord's side.

All three were able to sense the utmost tension between the two siblings. They knew this was a moment where they were not supposed to witness, but they knew even at Shun's order, they would not leave him.

Not with the one man he was weak against emotionally.

The two Judges on the ground looked up, and Rhadamanthys took up his fighting stance again – one that he was glad Shun did not stop him from doing –, when Ikki moved forward with a determined air around him.

"One more step forward, brother, and I have to let the Judges do whatever they want with you." That seemed to be able to stop the Saint in his tracks, but his glare only hardened further.

"And you really think that will be enough to stop me?"

Shun opened his mouth to say something, but words came out from Rhadamanthys' mouth first. "We will do anything, and everything to stop you from touching even a single hair on our Lord."

"_I am his bro--_"

"May we apologise in his stead for the manner he has used to see you and the destruction he has caused along the way, Lord Shun?"

All heads turned to see two more Saints' sudden appearance, and their face expression mirrored their surprise, except for Shun whose face remained calm.

"Sagittarius Aiolos and Aries Mu, it is a pleasure to see both of you again."

The small smile produced from the younger's lips helped the Gold Saints to calm down. The Shun who they knew from was still there, albeit in a colder manner that what they used to.

Mu slightly bowed his head in the former Saint's direction, showing his respect towards the one whose position was equivalent to the Holy Pope among Athena's Saints. "We apologise for not informing you earlier of our arrival _and_," at this he glanced at Ikki, "the problem that one of us could have caused."

Said Saint kept his mouth shut, not looking at any of the two Saints; eyes remained on his brother, who instead has his attention on the two newcomers.

A small chuckle coming from the youngest among them shocked the rest from the tension around them. The three Underworld Judges looked at their Lord worriedly.

"Shun-sama?" Aiacos made a point of trying to stand up, but still trying not to show his pain of doing so.

"Aiacos, please refrained yourself from moving too much. I would prefer it if you don't hurt yourself further." In a blink of an eye, Shun has moved to Aiacos' side, concern obvious on his face.

He has moved past his brother without even a glance.

"Y-yes, Shun-sama. I'm sorry for worrying you."

A small smile graced Shun's face at the answer, before directed his attention back to the three Saints.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is not the right time, nor the right place to discuss anything further. I have to see to my Spectres about their injuries."

"Wait! I still need to--"

"We understand, and we apologise again for the trouble that our fellow comrade had caused," Mu quickly intercepted Ikki's words, seeing how both Minos and Rhadamanthys have quickly moved to Shun's side.

"Well, then, until we meet again, Sagittarius Aiolos, Aries Mu and Phoenix Ikki." With that, Shun turned his back to the Saints, leading his Judges back into his castle, with Aiacos being helped by Minos.

They could only watch him go, two with the feelings of relief and one with remorse.

"Let's go, Ikki-kun," quietly, Aiolos tugged at Ikki's arm, knowing he would not move with his own will.

"But, I still have to…"

"Listen! You coming here had caused more than enough trouble to both Athena and Shun-kun. Do you even realise the danger of doing that? The Spectres are still distrustful of us, and it was only for Shun-kun's sake that they did not kill you the moment they found you!"

"I was able to defeat Aiacos!"

"That's because he _refused to hurt his Master's brother_!"

That stopped Ikki. Aiolos sighed and Mu could only shake his head ruefully. It was obvious from the Bronze Saint's expression that he did not expect that at all.

"Ikki," the Aries said in a gentler manner than Aiolos. "Everyone is trying to make this work; Athena, your friends, us the Gold Saints, even the Spectres and especially Shun. Don't you think it will hurt him the most if you are the one who fights against this?"

"I… I didn't mean to. I just wanted to take him back with us."

"That is not going to happen, Ikki, no matter how you, _we_ want it. Shun has made his decision." That caused Ikki to flinch, but Mu continued on. "Shun belongs with them now, and he has made that obvious in front of us. It was just that you were not with us at that time."

All three of them knew why Ikki was not there; the day Shun let go of his ownership on Andromeda Cloth, as well as his Sainthood.

"Right now, Shun is hurt with your actions. Not only you did not try to understand his decision before, you even came here uninvited and hurt his Spectres, who have nothing to do with him making that decision. Give him time, and give yourself time to accept it too."

He knew. Ikki knew he had hurt his brother in some ways by coming here, after what had happened between them. Even until now, he still refused to believe that his brother was no longer with him, no longer fighting by his side for the same cause.

And more importantly, he refused to believe that Shun was finally making his own decision, and that he, the older brother, was unable to accept his brother's decision.

But he could not do it. He could not make his brother feel guiltier about his decision, even when he still needed to grasp the truth that his brother no longer needed him to live. So for now…

"Let's go home, Mu, Aiolos, to Sanctuary and Athena."

"Yes, let's go. But before that, look up, Ikki."

Ikki looked up at Hades' castle at Mu's words and saw Shun looking down at them from a window.

They continued to watch as Rhadamanthys then appeared beside Shun, whispered something into his ear, and before going back into the castle, Shun gave a small smile and the Judge gave a quick nod to the Saints.

Those actions were enough to tell Ikki what he needed to know for now.

Rhadamanthys' nod said, _We will protect him no matter what, now that he is ours to take care of._

And Shun's smile told him, _Thank you, and I'll see you again soon, Nii-san._

* * *

And that's it for the third installment for 'His New Duty' universe. Ikki finally made his appearance and I think I bullied Aiacos a bit too much.

Thank you for reading and C&C are well-appreciated.

Unsugar


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